Kombucha

Added at second fermentation: the sugar feeds the yeast and the heat stays.

Citric acid arrives sharp and leaves; the acetic acid stays. Layered sour.

It is the substrate. Catechin bitterness is the only structure in the glass.

Citric acid and anthocyanin. Colour, plus a sourness the yeast did not make.

Menthol reads as cold and covers the yeasty top note people complain about.

Green aldehydes over tannin; it stops the drink tasting medicinal.

Berry sugar restarts the ferment and the tannin keeps it from turning squash.

Floral terpenes need acid underneath or they read like perfume.

Juniper on tannin, low ABV, high acid. It is a shrub cocktail without syrup.

Two live cultures; the tea tannin binds the milk protein and clears it.

Use it as mignonette; tannin does the shallot's job with far less bite.

Yeast volatiles and truffle sulfur overlap. Sounds absurd, measures true.

Acid and tannin are exactly what cocoa butter lacks. Poured over, not stirred.